EFFECT OF SINGLE AND COMBINED ALTERED AUDITORY-FEEDBACK ON STUTTERINGFREQUENCY AT 2 SPEECH RATES

The purpose of this study was to determine if combining delayed audito ry feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) would enhance f luency more than either DAF or FAF alone. Ten stutterers read at norma l and fast speech rates under nonaltered auditory feedback (NAF), DAF (i.e., a 50 ms delay), FAF (i.e., a one half octave downward shift), a nd a combination of DAF and FAF [(COMBO), i.e., a 50 ms delay plus a o ne half octave downward shift]. Results indicated that stuttering freq uency was significantly reduced under all altered auditory conditions at high speech rates relative to the NAF condition. There were, howeve r, no significant differences between the altered auditory feedback co nditions (i.e., DAF, FAF, and COMBO). It is suggested that further stu dies be undertaken to explore the combination of altered auditory feed back conditions, as it may be the case that a floor effect was demonst rated with the singular presentations of DAF and FAF and further impro vements in fluency enhancement could not be exhibited in the combined condition. Finally, these findings support the notion that a slowed ra te of speech is not necessary for fluency enhancement under conditions of altered auditory feedback.